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§tèvë
 Jan 23, 08 - 4:15 PM |
USA news stories
Cleveland (USA) Diocese Discourages Anonymous Sex Abuse Reports The Roman Catholic diocese of Cleveland is discouraging its employees and volunteers from making anonymous reports of sexual abuse of minors, a policy change that appears to be unique among U.S. dioceses and has outraged church watchdogs. However, it has the support of the local prosecutor's office. Church policy had required any suspicion of sexual abuse by church personnel be immediately reported to civil authorities. The revised policy says a person reporting abuse to civil authorities should include his or her name, address, and telephone number to help assist in an investigation. ''That's just as wrongheaded as possible. That's just silly,'' said David Clohessy, spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. ''All reports of abuse should be encouraged, anonymous and otherwise, especially with an institution with such a horrific track record on this issue. Many victims and witnesses are terrified of retribution, and some information always beats no information.'' Diocese spokesman Bob Tayek said there have been few anonymous reports in past years and that they're being discouraged only because they're often not helpful. ''Terminating an employee on an anonymous allegation is really unlikely,'' Tayek said. Bishop Richard Lennon approved the revised policy, and it took effect on January 1. It changes a policy that was last updated in 2003 during the height of the church's clergy sex abuse scandal. The revised policy makes it appear as though church officials are trying to control the information that civil authorities get, said Anne Barrett Doyle, codirector of BishopAccountabilty.org, an online archive of documents related to sexual abuse in the church. ''That's really stepping over the line and trying to suppress what could be very valid reports,'' she said. But officials with the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said the revision is appropriate. ''The best possible policy for the diocese is to tell its employees you must report suspected child abuse and we expect you to give your name,'' said Rick Bell, supervisor of the major trial unit for the prosecutor's office, who led an investigation into the diocese's abuse cases in 2003. ''They're encouraging reporting and openness,'' he said. ''Anonymous information may not be helpful whatsoever and encourages a climate of secrecy.'' Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection, wasn't aware of other dioceses adopting similar policies. She agreed that anonymous reports were difficult to investigate and substantiate and noted that the Cleveland diocese is only discouraging them. ''If they were saying, 'We're not taking any more anonymous complaints,' that would be of concern to me,'' Kettelkamp said. ''I just hope it doesn't discourage people from coming forward.'' The revised policy, which was drafted by a lay review board, also establishes that in alleged abuse cases involving nonclergy, the diocesan legal office should be contacted and will coordinate an investigation. Clohessy believes that's the last office that should be involved because church lawyers will only seek to limit damage claims against the diocese. Tayek said the change was made so the legal office can ensure that parishes and church institutions are following the policy for reporting abuse, and to make sure employment law is followed. More than 13,000 molestation claims have been made to dioceses nationwide and more than $2 billion in settlements have been paid since 1950. The Cleveland diocese has paid about $23 million in abuse-related claims. The 195 U.S. dioceses also have taught more than 6 million children to protect themselves from sexual predators and have conducted 1.6 million background checks on workers in response to clergy sex abuse. |
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§tèvë
Jan 23rd, 2008 - 4:16 PM |
Re: USA news stories
Rapist Who Preyed on Men Gets 99 Years A man convicted this week of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy at gunpoint was sentenced to 99 years in prison Thursday after he apologized for that attack and the rapes of four other young men. In a written statement read in court, Keith Hill also said he decided to assault men rather than women because ''it would be less hard on them.'' Hill, 20, was convicted Tuesday of assaulting one of five young men he had confessed to raping during an eight-month spree in 2006 in Baytown, Texas. Earlier, the defense had disputed his confession to police, but in the trial's punishment phase Hill said he deeply regrets the attacks and hopes his victims ''find it in their heart to forgive me.'' ''It would not happen if I did not have mental issues,'' Hill said. He added that he had prayed to both God and the devil for instruction. Hill blamed his aggressive behavior on an incident when he was 13, when a ''white guy in his 40s'' knocked on his door and said, ''We're going to have some fun.'' He said he screamed and ran away after the man touched his ''personal areas.'' The victim in the case that went to trial testified Monday that he thought he was going to die in the attack, which began when Hill abducted him from his driveway as the victim searched for something in his car. The victim said he was blindfolded with duct tape, his hands were tied behind his back with zip ties, and he was forced in the back seat of an SUV. There the assailant forced him to perform oral sex and hit him on the back of the head with a gun eight or nine times. Another victim testified Wednesday in the punishment phase that Hill had taken degrading photos of him and threatened to post them on the Internet if he talked. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault. Hill described feeling conflicted even as he committed the crimes, saying he struck two of his victims after assaulting them because he was ''upset at them for doing what I told them to do.'' His attorney, Laine Lindsey, had sought probation for his client, saying none of the victims claimed any ''lifelong trauma.'' Prosecutor Cameron Calligan countered, ''Nobody should have to go through what these young men did.'' The attacks spread fear in Baytown, an oil-refining town of 70,000 people about 30 miles east of Houston, and piqued the interest of those who study the criminal mind because the attacker preyed on men, something of a rarity in the world of crime. The U.S. Justice Department says one in 33 men in the United States has been a victim of a rape or attempted rape, compared with one in six women. Experts say men are far less likely to report a rape because they fear being perceived as weak. (AP) © 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
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Ken
Jan 24th, 2008 - 3:22 PM |
Re: USA news stories
I saw the second article when The Guardian picked up the AP newsfeed, and the wording of the article is, at the most generous, disturbing. Saying that the attacker's a paedophile in the case of the latest victim who was underage, and then trying to make out it's rare but then giving estimated statistics, shows me that it's a lot more common than America would like to believe. The damage done by 30 years of joking about attacks in prison will take a long time to repair. |
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